Interesting that Schuster does not let Tucker get away with the common talking point that there was no underlying crime.
Oh and just to add fuel to the fire, Karl Rove’s security clearance has been renewed. This is in spite of the fact that he leaked classified material to Robert Novak.
Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame were complete smeared by the Bush administration. Keith has a very solid interview with Ambassador Wilson. Olbermann ends the interview by reading Patrick Fitzgerald’s statement.
Please go to the Wilson’s web site and stay informed.
More outrage from the bloggosphere. FireDogLake which has really covered this investigation for its earliest stages and several posts - here and here. TPMMuckraker has also been on this story. They have Cheney’s reaction here and they mention that convicted Alabama Governor Don Seigelman who was convicted of bribery by his political rival’s wife would like to get not Paris Hilton treatment but Scooter Libby treatment.
The Court of appeals started all of this craziness this morning when they rejected Scooter’s motion to stay out of jail pending appeal.
WooHoo!! We knew it was coming. Dick Cheney was not going to see his cover, his shield, his condom, if you will, go to jail. I will have a ton more to say on this.
Bush who NEVER pardoned any of the folks on death row. Not one of the 154 people that were executed because he couldn’t find one thing wrong with their cases BUT Scooter Libby’s sentence was as he put it, excessive. I’m going to vomit.
It was a little murky before. Now, it is clear. In George Bush’s America, it is about privilege. It is not about justice. It about who you know. If you know the Vice President and the President, then you are able to do anything.
Update: Scooter will have NO consequences. He is labeled a felon for the time being. Bush hasn’t given Scooter a full pardon because the politics of that would be worse. I expect that Scooter will be given a full pardon before the end of Bush’ s term after the 2008 election. Scooters defense fund will pay the $250,000 fine. So, the bottom line - Scooter will have been forced to sit in a court room on uncomfortable chairs for several weeks straight. That’s it. No jail time. The fine is paid for. His record will be wiped clean at the end of Bush’s term. This comes from a man who claims to “respect” the rule of law.
Response from Patrick Fitzgerald’s office:
We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.
We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as “excessive.” The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.
Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process. (pdf here)
Abe Lincoln said never to write anything in anger, and I don’t mean to beat Errington to the punch on his own blog, but the decision of President Bush to give Lewis Libby a get out of jail free card is maddening.
I thought I was mostly immune to Mr. Bush after all these years. Not today though.
Mr. Bush’s actions are so clearly wrong, I’m not sure what more I can add. The act itself says it all.
This Independence Day week, I’m running a series of posts I’m calling “Four For The Fourth—Alternatives To Accommodation And Assimilation.”
I’m going to discuss four Americans who chose paths other than “going along to get along.”
As the week progresses, the historical figure I write about will be a person who followed a more radical course than the individual featured the previous day.
Tomorrow, I’ll start by writing about Franklin Roosevelt’s Labor Secretary Frances Perkins. Perkins imagined a government with an expanded conception of the value of each human being.
Wednesday, I’ll feature former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater stuck to his principles over time, even after defeat, and saw the political system remade somewhat in his image.
Thursday’s post will consider Revolutionary hero Thomas Paine. Paine sought a complete change in how Americans were governed.
Finally, on Friday I’ll write about Tecumseh. Tecumseh thought he was better off dead than living under the control of whites.
A message of this series is “There are always other options.”
Please join me all week for this effort and thanks for reading Where’s the Outrage?
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
